Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Opens 2001 Football Season at East Carolina
8/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 28, 2001
Winston-Salem, NC -
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WAKE FOREST FOOTBALL NEWS & NOTES
Wake Forest (0-0) vs. East Carolina (0-0)
7:00 p.m. * Bagwell Field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (43,000) * Greenville, NC
Television: None
Radio: The Wake Forest ISP Sports Network, heard on 18 stations in North Carolina and Virginia. Voice of the Deacons Stan Cotten calls the play-by-play.
Former Deacs Ed Bradley and Mike Pratapas serve as color analysts.
On the Web: The radio broadcast can be heard live over the internet via WFU's homepage: www.wakeforestsports.com
The Series: East Carolina leads the series 2-1. More series information included in this package.
The Rankings: Wake Forest is not ranked. East Carolina is receiving votes in the both ESPN/USA Today Coaches and Associated Press preseason polls.
The Coaches: Deacon head coach Jim Grobe makes his Wake Forest coaching debut versus East Carolina. In six seasons as the head coach at Ohio University, he compiled a career record of 33-33-1. ECU coach Steve Logan is 59-44 in nine seasons as a head coach, all with the Pirates.
Tickets: Contact the ECU ticket office at 252-328-4500.
Officials: Announced on game day.
2001 SEASON kicks off in Greenville, GROBE era begins at WFU
A new era in Wake Forest football begins on Sept. 1, when the Demon Deacons kick off the 2001 campaign versus East Carolina in Greenville, NC. Head coach Jim Grobe makes his sideline debut with the Demon Deacons, becoming the 31st head coach in the program's 100-year history.
Wake Forest returns 19 starters (10 offense, 7 defense, 2 specialists) and 45 letterwinners from the 2000 squad which posted a 2-9 record.
The game also marks the season opener for the Pirates, who posted an 8-4 record and won the galleryfurniture.com Bowl last season. While ECU is currently not listed among the top 25 in the preseason rankings, the Pirates are listed high among the teams receiving votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls.
East Carolina returns 55 letterwinners from the 2000 season, including 16 starters (6 offense, 9 defense, 1 specialist).
This game marks just the fourth meeting between the two schools and the first since 1997. East Carolina won that last meeting, a 25-24 decision, in its home opener.
DEACON details
Last season Wake Forest had the fewest number of returning starters in Division I-A football. The numbers look a little better this season as Grobe and his staff welcomed 45 returning letterwinners, including 19 starters, into preseason camp.
On offense, starters return at every position but one along the line. Four experienced linemen, including All-ACC candidates Vince Azzolina and Michael Collins, return to the trenches this season, with some slight shifts in positions. At quarterback, the battle for the starting job seems to have picked up where it left off between junior James MacPherson and sophomore Anthony Young. The two split playing time after the season-ending injury to starter C.J. Leak in the third game of the year. Young and MacPherson are the clear front-runners for the starting job in 2001, although they have been challenged by two quick-learning true freshmen Cory Randolph and Nick Smith.
The Deacs return speed at wide receiver, although the position has been somewhat depleted in the preseason with an injury to senior Ira Williams. Williams broke a bone in his right foot during a summer workout and has not returned to action yet. Senior John Stone and junior Fabian Davis lead the receiving corps in terms of experience and catches, but redshirt freshman Jason Anderson has been impressive in preseason as well.
Junior veterans Ovie Mughelli at fullback and Tarence Williams at running back provide leadership in the Deacon backfield as both return to their starting roles in 2001. Williams was the team's leading rusher and scorer a year ago, with 661 yards and seven touchdowns.
Wake's defense shifts to a 3-4 lineup under the new coaching system, and the front line boasts talent and experience, including senior Nate Bolling and junior Calvin Pace at the ends, with junior Montique Sharpe at nose tackle. Pace led the Deacs in sacks last season (nine) and is the leading returner in tackles for loss (12).
Two veterans - Ed Kargbo-Okorogie and Marquis Hopkins - lead the linebacking corps. Hopkins posted a team high 100 tackles last season. Defensive coaches foresaw a potential depth problem at the linebacker and moved players such as junior running back Jamie Scott, as well as redshirt freshmen Tyrek White, a running back, and safety Mike Hamlar to linebacker in the spring.
A host of young players make up the Deacon secondary, led by lone senior Adrian Duncan, who switched from corner to safety. Returning starter Quintin Williams returns to his post at corner while a number of underclassmen will challenge for playing time at all four spots.
Placekicker Tyler Ashe returns to his role for the second straight year, and will also handle kickoffs for the fourth season.
PIRATE points
East Carolina returns a valuable core of its team that went 8-4 and captured the galleryfurniture.com Bowl title over Texas Tech a season ago. Overall, ECU head coach Steve Logan welcomes back 16 starters (six on offense, nine on defense, one specialist) and 55 letterwinners.
Most notable among the returnees are quarterback David Garrard, who passed for 2,332 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2000, and inside linebacker Pernell Griffin, the preseason Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year.
In addition to Garrard, the ECU offensive arsenal includes running back Leonard Henry, who rushed for 711 yards and eight touchdowns a year ago. While the Pirates must replace All-America Sherwin Lacewell at the center position, the rest of the offensive line is experienced. The receiving corps is also a veteran group, with two seniors, Derrick Collier and Arnie Powell, slated as starters.
The Pirate defense may be especially dangerous, as it loses just two starters and returns the entire secondary from a unit that ranked 13th nationally in scoring defense last season. ECU's entire starting defensive lineup features juniors and seniors.
WAKE FOREST in season openers
* Wake Forest is 47-49-3 all-time in season openers.
* The Deacons have won three of their last five openers, dating back to a 19-13 win over Appalachian State in 1996, a 27-20 victory over then nationally-ranked Northwestern in `97 and a 34-15 romp over Army in `99.
* Appalachian State handed the Deacons a 20-16 loss in last year's season opener.
* The road trip to Greenville marks the first time in 32 years that Wake Forest opens the season in its home state in a stadium other than its own. The Deacs traveled to play NC State in the 1969 season opener, defeating the Wolfpack 22-21.
* In curtain-raisers played on the road, WFU is 14-26-2. At home the Deacs are 31-19-1 and are 1-4 in openers at neutral sites.
* WFU's last season-opening road victory was a 34-15 win at Army in 1999. Prior to that, the Deacs last road win to open a year came in 1988 at Villanova (31-11).
* Wake Forest and East Carolina faced each other in the 1963 season opener, also in Greenville. ECU won, 20-10, in what was also the initial meeting between the two schools.
* Head coach Jim Grobe is 2-4 in season openers as a head coach, all at Ohio University.
HEAD COACH Jim Grobe
The 2001 season marks the debut of new head coach Jim Grobe on the Wake Forest sideline. Grobe came to Winston-Salem from Ohio University, where in six years he resurrected a program that had previously been considered one of the worst in Division I football. Inheriting a team that was winless the previous season, Grobe turned the Bobcats into perennial conference contenders in the MAC and posted a 33-33-1 record during his tenure.
Prior to Ohio, Grobe served as an assistant coach at the Air Force Academy for 11 years under legendary coach Fisher DeBerry. The Falcons produced a record of 84-50 and went to seven bowl games during Grobe's tenure. He also served as an assistant coach at Marshall (1979-83) after beginning his college coaching career at Emory & Henry.
Grobe is no stranger to the Atlantic Coast Conference. After beginning his collegiate career at Ferrum Junior College, Grobe went on to the University of Virginia, starting two seasons for the Cavaliers and and earning Academic All-ACC honors. He earned both a bachelor's and master's degree from Virginia.
YOUTHFUL coaching staff
The staff that Jim Grobe has assembled at Wake Forest University can be described as young. The average age of the coaching staff is just shy of 38 years old, with five coaches - half the staff - below the age of 35.
But be careful not to equate that youth with inexperience. Collectively, this staff boasts 131 seasons of coaching in the collegiate ranks. Eight of Grobe's nine assistant coaches accompanied him to Winston-Salem from Ohio University where, in six years, they revived a struggling Bobcat program into a perennial conference contender. The ninth assistant coach, Brad Lambert, came to WFU from the University of Georgia, where he was a part of four consecutive bowl championship squads.
Offensive coordinator Troy Calhoun, at age 34, is one of the youngest coordinators in the country. Calhoun actually became a coordinator at age 29, when Grobe promoted him from quarterbacks coach at Ohio University in 1996. Southern Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix is currently the nation's youngest at age 28. Fourteen other coordinators range in age from 31 to 34.
BREAKING down the Deacon personnel
Forty-five letterwinners and 19 starters - including 10 on offense, seven on defense and both specialists - return to the gridiron for Wake Forest in 2001. After being one of the country's youngest teams last season, the Deacs will still field a relatively young lineup this year. Only four returning starters on offense and three on defense are seniors.
* Wake Forest leads the ACC in returning starters with 19 - just ahead of Georgia Tech, which ranks second with 18. It is also the highest number of returning starters for the Deacs in the last 10 years.
* A large crop of redshirt freshmen will now appear on WFU's active roster, as the Deacons redshirted 20 of 24 rookies last season.
IRA recovering from injury
Senior Ira Williams, WFU's leading receiver last season, missed all of two-a-day practices due to a broken bone in his right foot. Williams suffered the injury while doing voluntary practice drills earlier this summer. After wearing a boot on his lower leg during most of the preseason, Williams had the boot removed on Thursday, Aug. 24 to beginning running and gradually start participating in drills. He is doubtful for the East Carolina game.
Williams also missed part of spring drills with a broken finger. The 6-2, 207-pound senior caught a team-high 45 passes last season for 495 yards. He is the second-leading returning receiver in the ACC in receptions per game.
DEFENSE loses Carpenter, Clinkscale in early goings
The Deacon defense, already considered a youthful crew, became even younger in preseason practice due to the loss of two veterans for the 2001 season. Senior free safety Michael Clinkscale was declared ineligible for failing to meet academic requirements, and senior outside linebacker Tehran Carpenter will miss the season due to chronic neck problems.
A three-year letterwinner, Clinkscale played in all 11 games, including nine as a starter, last season. He broke up six passes, recorded two interceptions and 47 total tackles during the 2000 season. Sophomore Obi Chukwumah, who saw action in seven games last year, is currently listed as the starting free safety.
Carpenter, who saw action in 27 games from 1998-2000, moved from defensive back to outside linebacker in the spring and was listed as the first back-up to returning starter Ed Kargbo-Okorogie. Carpenter has 59 career tackles, six tackles-for-loss and two interceptions to his credit.
INJURY update
Beyond Tehran Carpenter and Ira Willams, most Wake Forest players made it through preseason practice without incurring any major injuries.
Senior Jonathan Helms suffered a sublexed patella in his left knee and is out indefinitely, while senior Marcus Kisner is out for the year with chronic knee problems. Both players were listed as backups on the offensive line.
Junior punter Matt Brennie has a deep thigh bruise and will not make the trip to ECU. Neither will senior Chris Justice, who has been bothered by a pulled hamstring.
True freshman Chris Owen injured his knee during the final days of preseason practice, and will undergo testing to determine the extent of the damage.
STRICTLY by the numbers
This season, Wake Forest returns from last year's numbers:
* 91 percent of its scoring production (163 of 181 points)
* 91 percent of its rushing production (1,488 of 1,652 yards)
* 82 percent of its passing production (1,593 of 1,934 yards)
* 83 percent of its receiving production (1,614 of 1,934 yards)
* 88 percent of its total offensive production (3,166 of 3,586 yards)
* 92 percent of its all-purpose yardage (4,518 of 4,887 yards)
* 66 percent of its tackling totals (527 of 800)
* 54 percent of its sack totals (14 of 26)
* 61 percent of its tackles-for-loss totals (52 of 85)
LEANER and meaner
Several members of the Wake Forest squad will look a little "leaner and meaner" this season. Coach Grobe has indicated that he'd like all his linemen to weigh under 300 pounds. Seniors Vince Azzolina and Michael Collins, who have combined to shed 52 pounds since early spring, are good examples. Azzolina weighed 301 pounds last fall and now weighs in at 275. Collins went from 318 pounds to 292.
On the other side of the ball, senior inside linebacker Marquis Hopkins has also dropped around 15 pounds. The loss has helped increase his speed and enabled him to be more of a playmaker.
WFU-ECU tidbits
* The two teams have had some close battles in their brief history. All three meetings have been decided by a collective total of 14 points. The last two meetings have been decided by three points or less.
* Wake Forest is searching for its first-ever win in Greenville. The Deacons' lone victory in the series occurred at home in 1979.
* Playing the Pirates is nothing new for coach Jim Grobe and his staff. Ohio University played at ECU during the 1996 season, losing in a wild 55-45 contest. East Carolina returned the trip in 1998, defeating Ohio 21-14 in Athens.
* East Carolina is opening its season at home for the first time since 1996. After defeating East Tennessee State 45-21 that season in Greenville, the Pirates have played either on the road or in a neutral site in season openers since then.
* The WFU and ECU football teams aren't the only ones going head-to-head on Sept. 1. The Pirate volleyball team will be in Winston-Salem over the weekend, participating in the Deacon Invitational. ECU meets the Deacs at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
* Wake Forest is looking to become the first ACC school to score points on East Carolina in seven quarters. The Pirates held NC State scoreless over the last three quarters of their 1999 contest, and shut out Duke 38-0 to open the 2000 campaign.
EAST CAROLINA connections
* Wake Forest assistant head coach Billy Mitchell will be returning to his alma mater this weekend. The 1972 East Carolina graduate was the team MVP as a defensive back and also a member of the track team.
* Deacon senior Chris Justice transferred to WFU from East Carolina, where he attended on a track scholarship and walked on to the football team. He was a redshirt for the Pirates when Wake last played there in 1997.
* ECU assistant coach Jerry McManus is a 1978 Wake Forest graduate. The former Deacon quarterback also served as an assistant coach at WFU from 1987-95.
* Another ECU assistant, Cliff Yoshida, has served two coaching stints as an assistant at Wake Forest, from 1973-77 and 1987-92.
* While Wake Forest has no players on its roster from the Greenville area, several Pirates call the Winston-Salem area home, including: Ja'Waren Blair (RJ Reynolds HS), Art Brown (Mt. Tabor HS), Damane Duckett (Clemmons/N. Davidson HS), Lee Hunt (Kernersville/East Forsyth HS), and Bernard Williams (North Forsyth HS).
* Two offensive lineman, WFU's Michael Collins and ECU's Chris Nelson are both 1997 graduates of Hickory High School in Hickory, NC. ECU defensive lineman Ty Hunt was also part of that class at Hickory.
* Michael Collins' cousin, Michael Setzer, was on the Pirate football roster in 1998.
* WFU offensive lineman Seth Houk and ECU linebacker Greg LeFever played together at Garden City (Kan.) CC in 1999. Both were Kansas Jayhawk All-Conference selections that season.
* Deacon QB James MacPherson and Pirate punter Jarad Preston both call Tuscon, Ariz. home, although they attended different high schools.
* Wake's Nicholas Jones, a backup quarterback, and ECU's Christian Wasielewski both attended Jesuit HS in Tampa, FL.
* ECU assistant SID Jody Jones served as a media relations intern at Wake Forest during the 1998-99 season.
* WFU media relations staff members Dean Buchan and Joanna Sparkman have both worked in East Carolina sports information office during their careers. Sparkman was an assistant at ECU when the Deacs visited Greenville in 1997.
IRON deacs
Led by senior offensive linemen Vince Azzolina and Michael Collins, the Deacon offense owns 151 collective career starts. Azzolina and Collins have both tallied a team-high 27 career starts. Entering the 2001 campaign, Azzolina is riding a streak of 26 consecutive starts dating back to his freshman season. Three offensive players - Azzolina, offensive guard Mike Moosbrugger and wide receiver Fabian Davis - started all 11 games last season. Tight end Ray Thomas posted 10 starts, while Collins had nine in 2000.
The defense is not quite as experienced, having compiled 86 career starts as a unit. Senior end Nate Bolling leads the defense with 14 career starts, while linebackers Marquis Hopkins and Ed Kargbo-Okorogie are the only returning Deacs on defense to have started every contest last season. Bolling, Adrian Duncan and Calvin Pace each had 10 starts to their credit in 2000.
PACE'S sack attack
This season, keep an eye on defensive end Calvin Pace, who already ranks sixth on WFU's career sack chart entering the 2001 campaign. With 11 sacks to his credit (including nine in 2000), the junior is "on pace" to pass second-place Bryan Ray, who recorded 19 sacks from 1997-00. Wake Forest's all-time leader, Mike McCrary, recorded 30 sacks from 1989-92.
Pace's nine sacks (for -67 yards) last season were a team-high while his 12 tackles-for-loss (-74 yards) is also the team's top returning mark this season.
Pace is also tied for third (with Georgia Tech's Nick Rogers) among the ACC's returning sack leaders this season. UNC's Julius Peppers (15) and Georgia Tech's Greg Gathers (13) ranked 1-2 in the league last year as underclassmen.
TACKLING tough opponents
Three opponents on Wake Forest's 2001 schedule are ranked among the nation's top 25 in both preseason polls. Florida State (6th), who played in the BCS national title game last season, and Georgia Tech (10th) are both listed among the top 10 in the Associated Press poll, while FSU is fifth and Tech 13th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. A third ACC foe, Clemson is ranked 19th by AP and 18th by the coaches.
East Carolina and NC State are both listed high among other schools receiving votes in both polls, while North Carolina also received one vote in the coaches poll.
The last time Wake Forest defeated a ranked opponent was Nov. 20, 1999 when the Deacs upset 14th-ranked Georgia Tech in Groves Stadium. The Yellow Jackets return to Winston-Salem this season (Nov. 17) for the first time since that loss.
CENTURY mark
Wake Forest celebrates its 100th season of football in 2001. The school fielded its first squad in 1888, but had no teams in 1890, 1894 and 1896-1907. In 99 seasons, Wake Forest's all-time record is 352-542-3.
COMING up next
Wake Forest returns home to host Appalachian State in the 2001 home opener. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The Mountaineers' season will already be underway, as they host Liberty in their 2001 opener on Sept. 1.
